Introduction

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is committed to the goal of reducing problems from disease-causing microorganisms (pathogens) at recreational beaches. Through

its BEACH Watch Program, the Agency strives to promote greater consistency in beach

health programs and provide better information to the public. An important tool for

gathering this information is the annual questionnaire EPA sends out to states, tribes, local

governments, and other agencies that maintain swimming beaches. Participation is

voluntary.

The purpose of the questionnaire, called the National Health Protection Survey of

Beaches, is threefold:

1. To create an accurate national inventory of swimming beaches and the

agencies that maintain them.

2. To survey the water quality standards, monitoring methods, costs, and procedures agencies use to issue beach advisories and closings.

3. To document critical aspects of each beach advisory and closing issued

throughout the swimming season including (1) the time length of the action,

(2) the reason the action was taken, (3) and the source(s) of pollution that

necessitated the action.

This fact sheet reports on information collected about the 2001 swimming season.

United States Office of Water EPA 823-F-02-008

Environmental Protection (4305) May 2002

Agency

EPA’s BEACH Watch Program:

2001 Swimming Season

Figure 1. Number of beaches in the 2001 beach survey.

PR

VI

GU HI

AK

ME

NY

PA

WV VA

NH

VT

MA

CT RI

NJ

MD DE

OH IN

MI WI

KY NC

TN

IL

MN

IA

KS MO

NE

SD

ND

CO

SC

GA

FL

AL MS

LA

AR OK

TX

NM

UT

AZ

WY

CA

NV

OR

ID

MT

WA

Not sent a 2001 questionnaire

Participated in the 2001 survey

0

13 4

4 11 4

28

20

13

15

62 48

35

43

22

191

224

7

43

170

119

202

96

228

17

55

243

79

28

64

Total = 2,445 Beaches

0

13 4

4 11 4

243

28

20

13

15

62 48

191

224

7

35

43

22

79

28

228

43

170 202

119

96

55

17

20

23

42

272
Survey Participation

We contacted a total of 269 state and local agencies located mainly along ocean

coasts and the Great Lakes to participate in EPA’s 2001 beach survey. A total of

237 agencies (an 88 percent return) from 31 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.

Virgin Islands submitted information about their beaches (Figure 1).

The number of beaches in the survey has grown from 1,021 in 1997 to 2,445 in 2001.

Most survey respondents represent county governments or parishes (Figure 2).

Beaches

Agencies participating in the 2001 beach survey provided EPA with information on

2,445 beaches. Of these beaches, 1,403 were coastal, 308 were on the Great Lakes,

and 734 were on inland waterways.

Advisory and Closings

A beach advisory or closing typically occurs when monitoring results indicate that

water quality is in violation of a water quality standard. Twenty-seven percent of the

beaches (672 of 2,445 beaches) had at least one advisory or area closed during the

2001 swimming season. The main reason given for an advisory or closing was

elevated bacteria levels (cited in 87 percent of the beach actions).

Figure 2. Types of respondents participating in the

2001 beach survey.
We asked survey respondents to identify the source(s) of the pollution that caused

the advisory or closing. In many cases, the source was unknown, but the second

largest was storm water runoff (Figure 3). A respondent could select more than one

pollution source for each advisory or closing.

Trends

Since it began in 1997, we have expanded the EPA beach survey to include 237

agencies and 2,445 beaches. As a result, the survey covers more beach miles and

collects more information concerning advisories and closings (Table 1).

Water Quality Standards

Agencies in charge of protecting the health of swimmers typically monitor for water

quality standards at their beaches. These standards vary among programs depending

on whether it is a freshwater or coastal beach, among other factors. Most standards

are based on the risk of human exposure to pathogens.

Table 1. Trends in agency participation, number of beaches, and advisories and

closings for 1997–2000.

2001 2000 1999 1998 1997

Number of agencies

participating in the survey 237 236 235 217 159

Number of beaches

reported 2,445 2,354 1,891 1,403 1,021

Number of beaches affected by

one or more advisories or closings 672 633 459 353 230

Percentage of beaches affected by

one or more advisories or closings 27 27 24 25 23

Figure 3. Sources of pollution that resulted in advisories and closings

Notes:

CSO: Combined Sewer

Overflow

SSO: Sanitary Sewer

Overflow

POTW: Publicly Owned

Treatment Works
Because detection is difficult and expensive, pathogens themselves are not usually

measured directly. Instead, one or more “indicator organisms” are measured and

used to predict the presence of pathogens. In 1986, EPA published a report that

recommended water quality criteria for two indicator organisms, Escherichia coli

and enterococci. The report concluded that these two indicator organisms are better

suited for predicting the presence of pathogens that cause gastrointestinal illness than

are total and fecal coliform bacteria, the two indicator organisms used in the past to

determine the safety of recreational waters. Some agencies have adopted E. coli and

enterococci as indicators; others have not. Many agencies use multiple indicators to

determine the safety of their waters. The total number of programs that reported the

use of E. coli, enterococci, total coliform, and/or fecal coliform concentrations as part

of their standards for marine waters and freshwaters are presented in Table 2.

Monitoring

EPA’s Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Bacteria—1986 recommends monitoring

five times per month for E. coli and enterococci. The survey results indicated that 91

percent of the beaches had some type of water quality monitoring program, but the

monitoring frequencies varied. Sixty-three percent of the beaches were monitored at

least once a week.

For More Information

EPA provides detailed results of the 2001 survey at the Agency’s BEACH Watch

web site, http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches. The web site provides detailed

information on the hundreds of individual coastal, Great Lakes, and freshwater

beaches that participated in the survey. You can also find other information on local

beach programs and health issues, as well as contacts and links, at this site.

Table 2. Number of agencies, types of indicator organisms, and type of standard used

to determine swimming safety.

Notes: An agency can use multiple indicators.“Instantaneous standard” refers to a standard in which the density of the

indicator for any single sample must not be exceeded.“Sample average standard” refers to a standard that must not be

exceeded based on an average density calculated from two or more (optimally five) samples taken over an established period

of time (typically a 30-day period).

Marine Water

Sample

Indicator Instantaneous Average

Organisms Standard Standard

E. coli 9 7

Enterococci 73 76

Total coliforms 31 26

Fecal coliforms 57 60

Freshwater

Sample

Indicator Instantaneous Average

Organisms Standard Standard

E. coli 55 55

Enterococci 24 26

Total coliforms 23 25

Fecal coliforms 55 66